Academic Information

Academic Sessions

The academic year is divided into two “sessions”: the fall/winter session and the summer session. The fall/winter session normally begins in September and ends in April or May. Within the fall/winter session there are two “terms”: the fall term, that begins in September and ends in December and the winter term that begins in January and ends in April or May. The fall and winter terms last for approximately 12 weeks each and the fall/winter session lasts about 24 weeks.

The summer session normally begins in May and is normally completed in August. This session is comprised of numerous terms ranging in varying lengths of instructional time from three to 12 weeks. Information on sessional/term dates can be found on the Current Students website (http://www.yorku.ca/yorkweb/cs.htm).

Classification of Students

For general purposes, a student is deemed by the University to be full-time if they take the equivalent of 18 credits or more in a given two-term session. For further information, contact Registrarial Services.

Course Numbering

Courses listed in this publication have the form: AP/EN 1000 6.00 which contains the following key parts: AP = the designation of the Faculty offering the course (in this case, the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies); EN = the prefix of the teaching unit offering the course (in this case, English); 1000 = the number of the course, the first digit of which identifies the level of the course; and 6.00 = the suffix indicating the “credit value” of the course.

Credit Value of Courses

The Faculties (http://www.yorku.ca/web/about_yorku/faculties.html) at York University may offer courses with varying credit value. Each course will have a suffix identifying the credit value for that particular course. For example, AP/EN 1000 6.00 has the suffix “6.00”, signifying that the course carries a credit value of six. The credit value normally correlates to the length of the course and the number of hours the course meets per week; however, this may vary among courses and Faculties. A course with a “3.00” suffix would meet three hours per week for one term while a “6.00” suffix would normally meet for three hours per week for the session (or two terms).

The York Courses website (https://w2prod.sis.yorku.ca/Apps/WebObjects/cdm) lists the courses being offered as well as the terms, days of the week, time and location of each course.

Cross-listed Courses

As has been noted, the prefix of a course indicates the unit or program which offers the course. Many courses are “cross-listed”: that is, they are offered jointly by two or more teaching units such as departments or divisions. In some cases, courses are cross-listed between units in two different Faculties. Cross-listed courses may not be “double-counted” in order to fulfill degree requirements; e.g. if AP/HUMA 4220 6.00 is cross-listed with HH/HIST 4800 6.00, it may be counted as a humanities course or a psychology course, but not as both.

Overlapping Courses

Some courses overlap significantly with other courses in terms of content and approach. There are two categories of overlap: course substitutions and course credit exclusions.

Course substitutions: These are pairs of courses which are similar enough in content that they can replace each other in order to fulfill program requirements. Note that only one of the pair can be taken for degree credit. Course substitutions are identified in the Programs of Study section of the Undergraduate Calendar.

Course credit exclusions: These are pairs of courses which may not both be taken for degree credit since their content overlaps significantly. If degree requirements specify that one of the pair is required to fulfill a program requirement, you may not enrol in the other - it cannot be used to fulfill degree requirements. Course credit exclusions are listed in the course descriptions found online on the Courses website or in the Courses of Instruction section of the Undergraduate Calendar.

Year-of-Study Equivalents

A student’s progress towards a degree is measured in terms of credits passed rather than years of study completed. Where it is necessary or helpful to equate credits passed with years of study, the following table may be used:

Credits Completed	Year Equivalent
fewer than 24 credits earned	1
24 credits to less than 54 credits earned	2
54 credits to less than 84 credits earned	3
84 credits or more	4*

*References to year 4 apply to students in Honours programs only. Education courses taken by students coregistered in the Faculty of Education are not included in an academic Faculty’s (e.g. Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, Glendon etc.) year-of-study equivalents.

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